Don't blame the individual, blame the system

Shortly after he resigned as Stockton's police chief in October 2008, Tom Morris went after a job as an investigator with the San Joaquin District Attorney's Office.

Michael Fitzgerald

Shortly after he resigned as Stockton's police chief in October 2008, Tom Morris went after a job as an investigator with the San Joaquin District Attorney's Office.

Morris was chief only eight months. But this modest stint enabled him to retire on a chief's pension of approximately $16,200 a month. To this pension he has added an investigator's wage, which, at the high end of that position, is $5,332 a month.

So Morris is making $18,000 to $21,000 a month, earning in one month the greater part of what the average Stocktonian earns in a year, if you believe the census.

Given the times, people are, shall we say, sensitive to excessive compensation. Especially those who think "brief chiefs" are gaming the system. Callers have been burning up the phone lines ever since Morris went to work March 16.

Others also alleged - yes, there's more - that Morris was hired over more qualified applicants. He's working insurance fraud, an area in which he has no experience.

I objected to excessive public employee compensation for years. Nobody listened. Cops and firefighters were sacred. My, how the public mood has changed.

Now I feel sorry for Morris ... almost. He's a big boy. He knows that with public money comes public scrutiny.

Well, here it comes.

District Attorney Jim Willett said rumors about Good Ol' Boys moving Morris to the head of the line are untrue.

Morris went through a Civil Service screening. The hiring panel was composed of law enforcement officials from out of the county, Willett said.

They whittled applicants down to a short list. "There were no applicants with insurance fraud experience that were on that list," Willett said.

Morris is only in his early 50s, and, "Tom, in addition to being an outstanding investigator, he still has lot of energy and fire in his belly," Willett said.

"We knew the double-dipping issue was going to be a concern for some people," Ferrari said. "But we came to the conclusion: Why not us? He's young, he's healthy, ... he's a top cop."

Ferrari added something almost poignant, given the circumstances:

"When we brought him on, he said, 'I just want to meld in. I want to be one of the troops. I don't want to be handled separately. I have no aspirations other than to be a worker.' "

So much for melding in.

Morris sits on the Women's Center board, loves Stockton, goes to church, has a wife and kids here. "That's the face that we want to represent our organization," Ferrari said.

True, Morris lacks insurance fraud experience. But he worked a broad range of heavy investigations over 30 years at the SPD, from vice to internal affairs, Ferrari said.

The typical insurance scammer can't make a car payment. So he torches his car and claims it was stolen. Not an Agatha Christie whodunit.

"With a person of Tom's experience, it's very easy for him to do," said Ferrari, who said he was "ecstatic" to land a hire of Morris's caliber.

I called Morris. He said he never really wanted to quit the PD. But he disagreed with City Hall's chain-saw approach to the budget crisis. They weren't listening to him, he felt.

"I was very blessed to be able to touch the top of the flagpole," Morris said of his career. "Now I can actually go back and enjoy the work of putting away the people who are making life miserable for others."

Morris said he could have applied to become police chief elsewhere. But he prefers to go back to his roots as a cop, doing work he loves, in a city he loves. He's not ready to retire.

I expected him to dismiss as sour grapes the criticism, and the perception that he's all about money. He didn't.

"To be honest with you, I wish I could just blow it off. I don't, because it does bother me," Morris said. "Those people who say that about me either don't know me and don't know the circumstances. I care about this town, and I care about the police department more than a lot. So when you ask me, does it bother me - sure it does."

It's a funny situation. The public dozed right through the period when public employee compensation went off the hook. Now they're fuming because they didn't attend the meeting.

I don't like overcompensation. It's hurting cities. But maybe a cop who is paid well because he rose through the ranks on his own merits and served honorably is the wrong guy to blame it all on.